


Like Pulling Teeth

by Spot_On60



Category: The A-Team (2010), The A-Team (TV), The A-Team - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 04:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11267610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spot_On60/pseuds/Spot_On60
Summary: Hannibal's had teeth pulled. While he comes out of the anesthesia he doesn't seem to be able to stop his mouth from making words.





	Like Pulling Teeth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [loves_books](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loves_books/gifts).



 

**Like Pulling Teeth**

 

"How ya feeling there, Boss?"

"I'm so glad you're here." Hannibal smiled up at him. Face smiled back, a little surprised by the earnestness in which it was said. Hannibal's speech was muffled as he spoke around the wads of gauze in both sides of his mouth.

"He's going to be a little out of it for a few hours," Jerry, Hannibal's dentist informed.

"Oh, I know. I've had dental work done," Face smiled at the doctor knowingly.

"This is definitely going to last longer than the usual." He dropped a hand on Hannibal's shoulder. "Besides his size he has the constitution of a rhinoceros. It took us several injections just to get him to relax. Then he fought through it at one point and we needed to knock him out again. So he's sailing right around now."

"Aw man. Hannibal. Why'd you give them such a hard time?"

"It's my sworn duty," Hannibal replied stoically to the talking spit basin.

Face opened his mouth to call the Colonel's attention up, but quickly closed it again, pointless. He looked at the doc a little lost.

"It's not that unusual with some of you military men. Especially with combat officers. They have a particularly hard time surrendering control." Dr. Helper gave Hannibal's shoulder a squeeze. "Living up to your name, weren't you Hannibal? Like knocking out an elephant."

Hannibal thought the doctor looked surprisingly like his LT, Face. "I never noticed that before."

"Noticed what, Hannibal?"

Didn't sound like Face. Sounded like some guy named Jerry whose name was escaping him.

"What did you notice?" Hannibal asked.

"No, you noticed something, Boss," Face tried to clarify.

"I'm not giving notice. Why would I do that? I love my job. Plus there's still a few years left on my conrack, contac, on my conrack .... pffftt .... That's a funny word."

"You relax Hannibal," Jerry again clapped him on the shoulder.

"I haven't been this relaxed in years. I think the last time was when I bedded that..."

"Alrighty then," Jerry cut him off with a chuckle. "Good luck, Lieutenant. I'll be back to check on you in about ten minutes. Try to keep him quiet. We'll see how he is when I come back."

"You're coming back?!" Hannibal looked surprised. "I don't think I have any more here for you."

"That's okay, Hannibal. I'll make do."

"Well I'm being pretty rude if you ask me."

"Really. It's fine." Jerry slipped out of the room

Hannibal was quiet for close to five minutes as he examined the miracle of shoelace tying. Face had been looking at the various dental instruments, charts and a particularly gruesome set of teeth, each with a more vile dental situation than the one before.

Hannibal's eyes scanned the room landing once again on Face. "I'm so glad you're here."

"I told you I'd come." Face was again smiling down on him.

"That's what I love about you, Face."

Face wasn't sure how to reply to that one. Luckily, the moment passed without further comment.

"That's such a good color on you. You should wear it more often."

Face looked down and fingered his shirt tail. "It's white, Hannibal."

"It brings out the red in your eyes."

"Thank you."

"Sure, kid. Anytime." The Colonel's head lolled around as he took in his surroundings. "Why am I in the hospital?"

"You're not in the hospital. You're at the den..."

"Did something happen to you boys?!" His eyes were wide and worried and his body tensed.

"No Boss. We're fine."

"Oh thank God!" Face watched as his entire demeanor changed. Watched how the panic flowed out of him. "I don't know what I would do without my three little bears. Well except BA. He's not little at all. But you? You're just right."

Face thought that was the most sincere goofy grin he'd ever seen.

"Thank you, Hannibal."

"Yeah, about that. Call me John."

"Uhhh...okay....John."

"It didn't roll off your tongue."

"Sorry. Not used to using it, John." Face couldn't help smiling at the man. He knew his name was John, but it felt as unnatural as calling him George or Liam. Hannibal had always been Hannibal or Boss.

"It's okay, Face. I could forgive you anything."

"There may come a day I'll hold you to it," the LT laughed.

"When will that day be?"

"Sometime in the future."

"I have to wait?! That's bullshit! I've wanted to hold you from the first time I set eyes on you."

Face was smiling indulgently, when it suddenly hit him, "Wait. What?"

"Alright. How are you feeling, Hannibal?" Jerry was back looking at him intently.

"Hi Jerry." Another goofy grin.

"Hannibal. I need you to pay attention. Are you nauseous?"

"No. I could go for a burger. A cheese burger. I'd like it medium rare with cheddar. I'll have fries and a Coke. What are you going to have, Face?"

Face was still stuck on, "I've wanted to hold you ...."

Jerry continued, "No burger for you today. So you're not sick to your stomach."

"I'm not, but Face looks like he is. Better cancel that order so I can get him home."

"Okay. I'll cancel it." Through the years Jerry had learned sometimes it's just better to play along. He looked to Face, who actually was looking a little pale. "You okay, Face?"

"Huh? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. That set of teeth you have there just kinda gave me the willies," he only half lied.

"Hannibal? Can you follow my finger?" The dentist moved a finger left to right and back again in front of the Colonel. "That's good." He moved off to the side to a tray holding forceps in alcohol and packets of sterile gauze. Back to Hannibal he asked, "Can you open up for me?"

Hannibal's jaw dropped opened into a gaping maw. Jerry extracted the bloody gauze packs from Hannibal's mouth and replaced them with new. He showed Face how it was done before giving him a bag with packages of gauze and an oversized plastic tweezer.

"Wash this when you finish and keep it in a bath of alcohol when you're not using. They should be changed again in about four hours. Get him a milkshake for dinner. When he's done pack him again for another half hour. Take them out. If he's still bleeding pack him again and call me." He held up a piece of paper. "It's written out for you. His prescription's been called in. You should be able to go through the drive-thru. Any problems give them this." He held up another small paper then dropped both in the bag.

"Is that our doggy bag?"

"Kind of," Jerry agreed.

"Good. We can have dinner too, Kid."

"Up you go, Hannibal." Jerry was guiding him to standing. He had his feet under him, but he had a bit of a wobble. Jerry didn't see Face move, but he was there with an arm around Hannibal's waist to steady him. "What do you think?" he asked the Lieutenant. "Want a hand getting him to the car."

"Let's see how we do. Do you mind just getting the doors for us?" Face had Hannibal firmly around the waist and held one of the Colonel's arms across his shoulder. "You ready, Boss? Think you can walk?"

"I'll give it a try, Kid. How much did I drink?"

"You didn't drink anything. You had anesthesia here at the dentist. Remember, you had two teeth pulled."

"I had teeth pulled," he mumbled through the gauze.

"That's right. I'm taking you home now."

"You taking me to your apartment?"

"No, I'm taking you to your house."

Hannibal smiled at him. "I'm so glad you're here."

"So you've said."

It wasn't too difficult getting to the car though it took longer than necessary. They had one obstacle to overcome. Stepping off the curb into the parking lot was an exercise in futility. You would have thought Hannibal was an Atlantic City diving horse on its maiden leap. Walking half way around the building they found a handicap ramp the two could hobble down, Hannibal hanging on, doing his best to drag Face to the ground.

"Are we going to another building?" Hannibal had his hands up and watched as Face leaned over to buckle his seatbelt.

"Kind of. We're going to your house."

"Are those trees coming with us?"

Face followed his point to see two little fir trees. One on either side of the walk. He noted they had plenty of room to grow. "No. They're staying here."

"They're not going to do to them what they did to me?"

"No. Trees don't have teeth to pull. Okay, Hannibal..."

"John."

"Okay, John. Keep your hands away from the door so I can close it." He watched as the boss twisted to his left making a show of moving his hands. Face quickly shut the door and hurried around to the driver's side. Opening that door he was met with Hannibal leaning toward him with his hands on the driver's seat, fingers spread wide. "You have to move your hands so I can sit down."

In a loud whisper Hannibal said, "I'm keeping them away from the other door."

"Why are you whispering?"

"Don't want the door to hear me."

Face couldn't help laugh at that. "It's okay. It doesn't mind. But Hannibal..."

"John."

"John. You need to move your hands back to your lap so I can sit down."

Hannibal twined his fingers together and placed them in his lap.

At the pharmacy drive-thru the prescription was waiting for them. Face displayed Hannibal's military ID and they were soon on their way. Hannibal reached for the paper bag the prescription was in where Face had tucked it between the driver's seat and console.

"Leave it there, John. You can't have any for a couple hours."

"I just wanted to see if you got the right kind."

"There's only the one kind. The one they give you. The one the doctor ordered."

"How would the doctor know what kind of condoms I like?"

"What!?! We didn't get condoms."

"Then why did we go to the drugstore? Only two reasons to go there. Get condoms or milk."

"We picked up a prescription for painkillers for you."

"I'm feeling no pain." Hannibal said as he turned his head to look out his window.

Face was laughing again. "Obviously."

"Then why did we go to the drugstore?"

"Don't worry about it, Han.... John."

"It's all I do is worry."

"You don't need to worry about anything. I'll take care of you."

"But I have to take care of you."

"No. I'm fine."

"I worry about you all the time. I used to worry about how unhappy you were. But I don't worry about that anymore. You're not unhappy anymore. Are you?"

Face felt a little exposed. It was true. When he had first been assigned to one Major John "Hannibal" Smith he had been angry and felt beaten down by life. Not anymore. Though he was comfortable and content, he still wasn't exactly happy. The team operated like clockwork and they all got along. That seemed to be the best he could ask for. "I'm not unhappy. You don't need to worry about me."

"Worry all the time. I worry the plan is no good. I worry something's going to piss off BA and I won't be able to help him. I worry about Murdock. He needs a dad. He needs a strong, wise dad. I worry about you. I worry you'll do something dangerous like you used to and then you'll be gone."

"I'm not going anywhere, John."

"Well tell that to the mailbox."

They drove on in silence. Face turned into the neighborhood where Hannibal's little two story house was located and pulled in the driveway, pushing the garage door opener. "We're home, John."

Hannibal had driven himself to the dentist earlier with BA dropping Face off soon after. Here they were in the garage with Hannibal unable to disengage himself from his seatbelt. "Let me get it." Face had Hannibal's door open and was reaching across to depress the release.

"You smell good."

Face smiled at that. "Come on, Boss. Let's get you to bed."

"Shouldn't we go out to dinner first or something?"

Face honestly didn't know what to make of all this. He had brushed off the first couple of remarks, but Hannibal's persistence had him wondering if the boss truly did harbor a secret crush for him. Now wasn't the time to get into it.

Hannibal moved like a six foot four rubber slab with noodles for arms. He curled and slithered with Face doing his best to support all two hundred something pounds of soldier. They made it to the base of the steps where Face was tempted to hunker him down with a pillow from the sofa and the lap throw from the chair.

"Hannibal, you need..."

"John."

"John, you need to help me get you up these stairs. Can you do that? Otherwise I'll have to carry you. Can you get up the stairs?"

"Sure." And with that he sprinted up the stairs unassisted.

Face was caught off guard and needed to make a dash up the steps behind him. He reached the second to last step just in time for Hannibal to begin to collapse at the top, leaning perilously backward, in danger of toppling back down the stairs taking Face with him. Face made a lunge. Though he didn't stop the man from crumbling to the floor, he did avert a disaster.

Face rolled him to his back. He could see Hannibal was having a difficult time focusing. His eyes were glassy and somewhat distant. It was an easy tell though when the boss focused in on him. He smiled wide, exposing those crinkles along each side of his eyes.

"I'm so glad you're here."

"So you've said. Think you can stand up for me?"

"Not a chance." He smiled again and closed his eyes.

"Whoa! Whoa! Don't fall asleep now!" He slapped at his face. "Hannibal? Hannibal!" He said loudly.

"John."

Face struggled to reposition the lump laying in the upstairs hallway so his head was pointed toward his bedroom and feet to the stairs. Grasping him under his arms Face dragged him down the hall. He couldn't quite get him around the corner of the bedroom doorway and was forced to half lift him in a bridal carry to straighten this length of man. He briefly contemplated carrying him the rest of the way, but knew there was no way he'd make it through the doorway unscathed with the boss in his arms. And wasn't that a warning twinge in his back?

Back to pulling underarms he finally had Hannibal close to his bed. Face was panting and sweating while considering if it was a better idea to undress the Colonel where he lay or after he was in bed or maybe just leave him as is where he was. Face knew his Colonel's back wasn't the most forgiving anymore. He sighed heavily as he knelt down to begin untying shoes.

He had Hannibal down to his T-shirt and boxer briefs. After tossing the bed covers aside he squatted down to lift the man into bed only to be met by blue eyes looking up at him. "Hi Face."

"Hi John. Can you stand?"

Face was relieved Hannibal pretty much put himself to bed. He felt more like he had been on maneuvers than giving someone a ride home from the dentist. He covered Hannibal and turned the shades to darken the room.

"You good?"

Hannibal only smiled in reply.

"I'll be back to wake you in a couple of hours. We need to replace your gauze and get some pain meds in you."

"You know you're beautiful, don't you?"

A smile spread across the LT's face then faded. No, as a matter of fact, he didn't consider himself beautiful. When he looked in the mirror he saw a quick glimpse of what others saw. An attractive man with unusually bright blue eyes. The image generally stayed put long enough to style his hair with a little gel. After that the real Templeton Peck came through.

That was the con artist. The man who took advantage when he could to further himself. It had been the same for his unit, if furthering his unit was the route to making things better for himself, so be it. If his unit could do without something that would further him, well so be that as well. Not any longer though. He may still pull scams, but they are 99.9% in service to his team.

He previously had no compunction about taking what he wanted. Using those looks everyone so admired or the charm he had honed was all just part of living life. Getting ahead. Never having to look back. Until Hannibal.

Hannibal had changed everything, most everything. For in as high regard he held Hannibal, he held himself equally low. Here he was with this man who had spent the last two hours complimenting him and making it clear he had deeper feelings than Face had considered. He didn't know how to respond. It was all new and frankly a bit disconcerting.

"You coming to bed with me, Kid?" Hannibal asked, his hand reaching.

Face took the offered hand in his own. "I'm flattered, Boss, but I can't do that."

"Should have known better than to ask." His eyes were fluttering. "Ya know what?"

"You're so glad I'm here?"

Hannibal smiled wide, "How did you know I was going to say that?"

"Lucky guess. Close your eyes Hannibal. You need..."

"John."

"John. You need to get some sleep."

"Okay, Boss." Hannibal's eyes had already slid shut and his grip in Face's hand had softened.

 

Hannibal woke to a darkened room. Not only did it appear the sun was setting, but the shades had been turned to thwart the passage of what was left of the sun, street lights, or the moon and stars into the room. He had a memory of his hair being brushed from his forehead and a hand on his cheek and touched his own hand there. Although, he didn't remember getting in bed and was contemplating how it had happened when he heard his bedroom door creaking.

Face's head appeared around the corner. When their eyes met Face opened the door and came to the bedside. "Hey," he spoke quietly. "How ya feeling, John?"

 _John?_ Hannibal thought. _Face never calls me John._ "I'm. I'm not sure," he half mumbled. "What the?" he said reaching to remove whatever was in his mouth, but Face stopped his hand.

"Hold up a second. Let me get the bag." He had left a plastic grocery bag on the dresser to dispose of the used gauze. Upon returning bedside from retrieving it he held it out. "Drop them in here." Hannibal grimaced as he reached two fingers in his mouth. "You okay? Want me to get them?"

Hannibal replied by dropping the gauze in the bag. It came to him today was the day he had two teeth extracted. It was the first step in what would become two implants in almost a year's time. Face had offered to drive him home from the procedure.

"You with me, Boss?" Face looked a bit concerned.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"You getting hungry?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"I have everything ready to whip up a chocolate malt. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Face, but I've had a taste for a cheeseburger all day. How.."

"Sorry, John, but that's not going to happen." Face was smiling down on him. "You're staying in bed. And you can't have solid food tonight. Doctor's orders. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Hannibal was left alone to try to get his bearings. He felt foggy and was finding it difficult to focus on one thing. That is until he considered how handsome his LT looked just then. "Oh my god." His chest tightened as he became aware of thoughts half remembered he had of his young second. His chest wound tighter as he clearly remembered asking Face to join him in bed. "Aw jeezus," he moaned.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Face was back carrying what looked like a flower vase filled with ice cream. He hurried to the bed, setting the chocolate delight on the nightstand.

"Nothing." Hannibal said a little too forcefully. "I just remembered..."

"Remembered what, John?"

 _Oh god he's calling me John because I told him to call me John_. "I think I need to use the bathroom." Not a very good cover, but true none the less.

Face brushed his odd behavior off as the effects of coming out of the anesthesia. "Okay. I'll help you."

"No!" _I can't touch him right now_. "I mean no thank you. I can manage fine."

"Yeah, well we'll see. At the very least I'm following you," Face insisted.

Hannibal was wobbly on his feet. Face followed behind, arms extended prepared to catch his Colonel or assist as needed. As Hannibal stepped into the bathroom his hand went out to swing the door closed behind him, but Face was there to block the arc. "Come on Face. A little privacy?"

"Not yet."

"Give me a break, will you?"

"No. I mean it's not like I haven't seen you take a piss before."

Hannibal couldn't argue, mostly because he was ready to burst. Face followed him back to bed, again ready for the boss no matter in which direction he faltered. Tucking him back in, Hannibal was rolling his eyes.

"Here. It's an extra chocolate chocolate malt."

"Is that a flower vase?" Hannibal asked taking the vessel.

"Well you don't have any really big glasses or mugs."

"Thank you, Face."

Smiling, Face nodded and put his hands together to watch as Hannibal took the first sip. Hannibal glanced up to see Face looking earnestly down at him. He visibly relaxed when told, "It's good. Thank you."

"Oh good. Glad you like it," the younger man huffed out. "Can I sit with you?"

 _No_. "Sure." _Don't get too close_.

Face bent a knee and sat on a foot at the end of the bed.

"Does your mouth hurt?"

"It's not unbearable. The cold helps."

"So you said yesterday this is just the beginning?"

"Mm hmm. First they pull the teeth then give the socket some time to heal. Then they implant whatever it is they use to screw the teeth into." He took a sip of his malt. "Those need to sit for awhile while bone grows over them and secures them. Somewhere along the line a mold is made of the area and a tooth is fashioned. When the socket for the new tooth is firmly in place the tooth is screwed in." Hannibal was watching Face as he spoke. He could see the younger man feeling around his own molars with his tongue as the procedure was described. _Just shoot me, I can't stop looking at his mouth_.

"They can't really screw it in though. A tooth isn't round."

"Maybe it snaps in. I don't know." _He's gotta stop staring at my mouth. He's not acting like anything is off, maybe I didn't make an ass of myself_.

"Think you want some more? There's plenty of ice cream and chocolate left."

"No. This is good. Thank you though."

"John, you were pretty out of it when I brought you home."

_Oh gawd....I did make an ass of myself._

"You were out of..."

"Completely out of line. I know, Face," Hannibal stomped all over Face's line. It was better to concede he had been been inappropriate then to have it pointed out. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I don't think I can tell you how sorry I am. I don't remember everything I said, but I'm hoping it hasn't ruined the friendship we've developed these past years. And I truly hope you can look at me without seeing a pathetic man inappropriately lusting after a handsome subordinate. And please don't feel you need to submit to me to keep your position within our unit. Because it is our unit. Yours and mine, with people coming and going. Well maybe that isn't true anymore now we have BA and Murdock. They've become permanent fixtures who I have no more intention of letting go than you. Oh man, I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I meant in our unit. In our Alpha Team. Well that is if you want to stay. And if you don't, I'll completely understand. I can just imagine how uncomfortable this has made you feel..."

"John."

"You don't have to call me John if you don't want to. I was so out of line..."

"John. I was going to say you were out of it when I brought you home."

Hannibal sighed and directed his eyes down to the almost empty vase.

"And," Face continued, "...I needed to man handle you some. I wanted to know if I hurt you. And if I did, I wanted to say I'm sorry and see if you needed ice or anything."

 _Oh My God. What I need is a hole to go die in_. He looked up to see a placid expression with a lift of the eyebrows in question. "No. I'm fine."

"Finish up your malt. It's time for you to get more pain meds and I need to repack your mouth with gauze." There was that smile. The smile Hannibal so loved to see. It was a smile he felt was his alone. He honestly could say he had never seen it directed at anyone else. It made him melt a bit. 

Face stood and approached the head of the bed. Hannibal tensed again and watched him warily. Face took the vase. With the other hand ran his fingers through John's hair, brushing it off his forehead. He finished by resting his palm along Hannibal's cheek, just the same as the memory he had awoken to.

"Did none of what I think happened happen?" Hannibal asked unsure.

"It did."

Hannibal closed his eyes and let out a chuff. "So are you just pretending I didn't come on to you?"

"Maybe?" Face smiled taking his hand back to hold the vase in both, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

If he hid in the closet maybe Face wouldn't be able to find him when he came back. _Considering what's going on, in the closet is the first place he'd look_ , a voice in his head offered.

"Here we go," Face announced as he made the corner into the room. He set a bowl that smelled of rubbing alcohol and paper packets marked "Sterile Gauze" onto the night stand. He went into the bath where Hannibal could hear water running. Back out again and he was holding his hand with the pain pills out for Hannibal to take. Dropping the pills in the boss' palm he handed over the water.

As Hannibal set the glass on the nightstand Face was opening two gauze packets. "I don't need those anymore."

"That's not what your dentist told me."

"Really, Face. You don't need to fuss over me like this."

"Hush. They need to stay in for half an hour." He held up a finger as the patient tried to object. "If they come out clean, you're done with them." He had them in place in no time. "I'm going to go downstairs. I kinda made a mess in the kitchen." He dropped the tweezers back in the bowl and gathered the paper wrappers before making his way out the door.

Hannibal was miserable. Not only did his mouth hurt his sensibilities were damaged and aching. He had really fouled this up, hadn't he? It wasn't a matter of thinking a dream was real. It was a matter of what was real being a nightmare. He sunk down under the covers and was surprised how soon it seemed Face had returned.

"You want to pull those out, John, or want me to?"

It hurt to hear himself called John in that voice. _A voice you probably won't be hearing too far into the future. What an idiot._ "I can do it."

"Hey look at that. They're clean." He tied a knot in the plastic bag the gauze was dropped in and walked it to the waste can by the dresser.

Hannibal lay on his side watching his LT.

"You tired, John?"

"A little."

Face stood in front of the dresser rubbing his palms together. Looking over the room. Avoiding looking directly at the man in bed. When his eyes did settle on him, it appeared he had worked up a certain amount of courage. "John?"

"You don't need to call me that."

"Would you rather I didn't? I was kinda getting to like it. No one else calls you John, do they?"

"No. Not since my divorce."

Face had taken a few steps forward. "Did you mean what you said?"

"You're going to have to be a little more specific, Kid. I've been a babbling fool today."

"About what you said about me," he stumbled over his words.

"Still need to narrow it down. I'm done saying the wrong thing here."

"It's not the wrong thing if it's the truth."

"You believe that?"

Another couple of steps and he was close to Hannibal's knees. "I do."

He couldn't skirt it anymore. The chips would fall where they would. "Face, I meant every word I said today."

"So you've felt this way about me since I was first assigned to you."

"No."

Confusion crossed the LT's face, "No?"

"No. You want to sit down or do you want to keep your options open? Maybe make a break for it?"

He chuckled as he sat alongside the boss' legs.

"When I first set eyes on you I couldn't believe my good luck. I couldn't believe I was going to have this handsome young man to look at."

Face rolled his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes. You said you wanted the truth, well you're getting it. As the years went on I came to appreciate who you are, what you are. And yes, I wouldn't mind taking it further, but you already told me no, you didn't want to."

"That's not exactly what I told you."

"Face, You don't ...."

"Temp."

"What?"

"Call me Temp."

Hannibal forgot what he was going to say. _Oh no, the drugs are kicking in again._

"Look, John. I told you I couldn't get in bed with you." Hannibal was lifting onto an elbow. Face pressed him back down. "Don't interrupt. I said I couldn't. I needed to go to that little store a couple of blocks over to get you fixings for a milk shake. I needed to stay awake to watch over you."

"Malt."

"What?"

"You made a chocolate malt, not a shake," Hannibal was half smiling.

"Malt," the younger man repeated with a smile. "Anyhow. I said I couldn't. I didn't say I wouldn't. But there was no way I was going to take advantage of the situation."

"What?!" John burst out laughing. "Oh my god," he laughed, "You were protecting my virtue?!"

Temp rolled his eyes again. "Well someone had to! You were being a total slut." He was laughing now too.

John reached with his hand, Temp took it.

"Look, John. Let's take this slow."

"What? Take what slow?"

"Getting to know each other better?"

"You want to?"

He shrugged a shoulder. "Yeah, I do."

Trying to sit up again found Hannibal feeling woozy and looking it too.

"Stay down. See that's it. Now's a good time."

"But I'm not feeling well."

"I know. It should slow us down some." He was smiling rather shyly.

"You want to do this slow." John needed to confirm what he was hearing.

"I want to do this right."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¥¥¥¥¥~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

So I wrote this in response to a prompt from Panda. Only now that I've gone to quote it, I see it's another from LB. So here ya go, LB! Lol Once again, it's not exactly what you were asking for, but hope you like it anyhow.

LB's prompt:Unrequited love, or is it? Hannibal finally plucks up the courage to ask Face out on what would definitely count as a date, but Face politely rebuffs his advances, saying he's flattered but straight. Can Hannibal find a way to keep working with Face afterwards, when Face seems to be absolutely fine with the whole situation? (And is Face really pining for Hannibal the whole time but too scared to take a chance?)


End file.
